In recent years, hybrid and electric vehicles, which are provided with a battery, have been proposed, and some of them have been put into practice, to effectively use energy, in particular, regenerative energy as environmental measures. Typically, secondary batteries, which have been put to into practice and installed in vehicles so far, include, for example, lead storage batteries, nickel metal hydride batteries, or high powered lithium ion batteries.
The use of such batteries provide many challenges such as thermal degradation, or the requirement of significant volumes or space due to low capacity. Such batteries may be heavy, which can lead to decreased performance of vehicles. Furthermore, the active materials of the electrodes are low in the rate of occluding and discharging ions, and hence efficient charging cannot be achieved during fast charging, either form a stationary charger of regenerative charging. The speed of regenerative charging can be very pertinent for a heavy-duty vehicle, such as a bus, that may be regularly recharged within small time frames.
Thus, a need exists for a heavy-duty vehicle with a battery system capable of rapid charging. A further need exists for a heavy-duty vehicle that can efficiently utilize its battery system.